List of Presidents of South Korea

Presidential Standard and Seal of the President of the Republic of Korea

South Korea

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of South Korea

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To avoid confusion, all the names on this list follow the Eastern order convention (family name first, given name second) for consistency.

The following is a list of Presidents of South Korea since its independence.

The presidential term has been set at five years since 1988, six years since 1993, seven years since 1999, two years since 2007 and five years since 2008 till present. It was previously four years from 1948 to 1971 and seven years from 1971 to 1988.

The first column consecutively numbers the individuals who have served as president, while the second column consecutively numbers the Presidential terms or administrations.

List of Heads of State of the Provisional Government of Republic of Korea (1919-1948)

Heads of the Provisional Government¹

• Syng-man Rhee (1919–1925)
• Park Eunsik (1925)
• Yi Sang-ryong (1925–1926)
• Hong Jin² (1926)
• Yi Dong-nyung (1926, 1927–1933, 1935–1940)
• Kim Gu (1926–1927, 1940–1948)
• Yang Gi-tak (1933–1935)

Chairman of the Interim Legislative Assembly of South Korea

• Kim Kyu-sik (1946 - May 31, 1948)

Speaker of the Constituent Assembly (of Republic of Korea; South Korea)

• Rhee Syng-man (May 31, 1948 - July 20, 1948)

Notes:

1. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was a government in exile based in Shanghai, China. Although the current South Korean constitution recognises its de jure sovereignty over the Korean people, the provisional government was not recognized by many international powers.
2. Hong Jin is also known as Hong Myeon-hui (홍면희).
3. From 1961 to 1963, Park Chung-hee held the real power as chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction.

List of Presidents of the Republic of Korea (1948-present)

      Independent       Liberal / Centrist       Conservative

I#	A#	Picture	Name	Took office	Left office	Political party
Presidents of the First Republic
1st	1st		Rhee Syng-man (I Seungman) 이승만 / 李承晩 1875-1965	July 20, 1948	August 14, 1952	NARRKI (ko) ↓ Liberal
	2nd			August 15, 1952	August 14, 1956
	3rd			August 15, 1956	April 27, 1960
				During this interval, Prime Minister Heo Jeong (허정) was the Acting President.
Presidents of the Second Republic
2nd	4th		Yun Bo-seon3 (Yun Boseon) 윤보선 / 尹潽善 1897-1990	August 12, 1960	March 24, 1962	Democratic ↓ New Democratic
				During this interval, Prime Minister Park Chung-hee (박정희) was the Acting President.
Presidents of the Third Republic
3rd	5th		Park Chung-hee (Bak Jeonghui) 박정희 / 朴正熙 1917-1979	December 17, 1963	June 30, 1967	Democratic Republican
	6th			July 1, 1967	June 30, 1971
	7th			July 1, 1971	December 26, 1972
Presidents of the Fourth Republic
3rd	8th		Park Chung-hee (Bak Jeonghui) 박정희 / 朴正熙 1917-1979	December 27, 1972	December 26, 1978	Democratic Republican
	9th			December 27, 1978	October 26, 1979
				During this interval, Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah (최규하), was the Acting President.
4th	10th		Choi Kyu-hah (Choe Gyuha) 최규하 / 崔圭夏 1919-2006	December 6, 1979	August 16, 1980	Independent
				During this interval, Prime Minister Park Choong-hoon (박충훈), was the Acting President.
5th	11th		Chun Doo-hwan (Jeon Duhwan) 전두환 / 全斗煥 1931-	August 27, 1980	February 25, 1981	Democratic Justice
Presidents of the Fifth Republic
5th	12th		Chun Doo-hwan (Jeon Duhwan) 전두환 / 全斗煥 1931-	February 25, 1981	February 24, 1988	Democratic Justice
Presidents of the Sixth Republic
6th	13th		Roh Tae-woo (No Taeu) 노태우 / 盧泰愚 1932-	February 25, 1988	February 24, 1993	Democratic Justice ↓ Democratic Liberal
7th	14th		Kim Young-sam (Gim Yeongsam) 김영삼 / 金泳三 1927-	February 25, 1993	February 24, 1998	Democratic Liberal ↓ New Korea ↓ Grand National
8th	15th		Kim Dae-jung (Gim Daejung) 김대중 / 金大中 1924–2009	February 25, 1998	February 24, 2003	National Congress for New Politics ↓ New Millennium Democratic
9th	16th		Roh Moo-hyun (No Muhyeon) 노무현 / 盧武鉉 1946–2009	February 25, 2003	March 12, 2004	New Millennium Democratic ↓ Open Uri (Our Open)
				During this interval, Prime Minister Goh Kun (고건) was the Acting President.
				May 14, 2004	February 24, 2008	Open Uri (Our Open) ↓ United New Democratic ↓ United Democratic
10th	17th		Lee Myung-bak (I Myeongbak) 이명박 / 李明博 1941-	February 25, 2008	Incumbent (Term expires February 24, 2013)	Grand National ↓ Saenuri (New Frontier)

See also

• Government of South Korea
• Vice President of South Korea
• List of Prime Ministers of South Korea
• List of Presidents of South Korea by time in office
• List of monarchs of Korea